What's On Tonight

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK

Published: October 30, 2007

9 P.M. (13, 49) THE UNDERTAKING ''Every year I bury a couple hundred of my townspeople,'' Thomas Lynch writes in his book ''The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade.'' He is not being metaphorical. Mr. Lynch is a funeral director in a small town, Milford, Mich., where for three generations his family has cared for the dead -- and the living. In this ''Frontline'' documentary Mr. Lynch opens the doors to Lynch & Sons and allows viewers to peer into the difficult business of dying. Among the stories told are those of Anna Dugan, who is making preparations for her 89-year-old mother, who has had a stroke, and Anthony and Nevada Verrino, above, who are planning for the death of their 2-year-old son, who was born with a rare genetic disorder. ''What I've written is that while the dead don't care, the dead matter,'' Mr. Lynch says.

8 P.M. (13, 49) MARATHON CHALLENGE Yes, even you can run the Boston Marathon, if this ''Nova'' episode is to be believed. Tonight the series takes to the course at the Boston Marathon to follow 13 novice runners as they prepare to run the 26.2-mile race, bolstered by a nine-month training period monitored by doctors and exercise and nutrition scientists at Tufts University, who also chronicled the participants' physical transformations.

10 P.M. (Discovery) EVEREST: BEYOND THE LIMIT The scenery doesn't get much more spectacular than in this documentary series, which begins its season with a new batch of climbers, under the leadership of Russell Brice, trying to scale the world's tallest mountain. On the team: Rod Baber, who holds a world record for European mountain climbing; Greg Child, a writer and photographer, who will blog from his climb; the asthmatic Mogens Jensen, who will try to climb without supplemental oxygen; David Tait, who, with Phurba Tashi, a Sherpa, plans to climb to the summit from the north side and descend on the south side; and the 71-year-old Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a retired Japanese schoolteacher who, if he makes it to the top, will become the oldest person to do so.

10 P.M. (A&E) CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK In this season finale Mr. Angel speaks to the dead -- or so he says -- at a s?ce at the Artisan Hotel in Las Vegas, which is rumored to be haunted. And no one in the audience is safe.

10 P.M. (FX) NIP/TUCK Dr. Troy (Julian McMahon) and Dr. McNamara (Dylan Walsh), at right, from left, abandon Miami for Los Angeles in the fifth-season premiere. Julia (Joely Richardson) returns and gets a steamy new lover, played by Portia de Rossi. Rosie O'Donnell also shows up again as Dawn Budge.

10:30 P.M. (BET) KEYSHIA COLE: THE WAY IT IS Ms. Cole, the R&B singer, allows cameras into her Atlanta mansion for a second season, during which she will complete her new CD, ''Just Like You,'' and tussle with houseguests including her mother, Frankie, recently released from prison after three years for drug-related charges, and her sister, Neffie, an alcoholic. Ms. Cole has set some house rules, including no men. Mom complains, ''I still feel locked up.'' KATHRYN SHATTUCK